Transportation Manager

Green Plains•Omaha, NE

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Green Plains Inc. is seeking a dynamic Transportation Manager to play a critical role in our logistics operations. This position serves as the primary leadership backup to the VP of Transportation, ensuring seamless departmental operations and business continuity. The Transportation Manager will act as the key liaison with Eco-Energy’s ethanol scheduling team, providing strategic oversight, training, and support to resolve cross-functional execution gaps. This role is pivotal in driving logistics alignment with various internal teams, including commercial, legal, tax, accounting, and trade operations, to support product sales, asset positioning, and long-range supply planning. The successful candidate will lead strategy, negotiation, and performance oversight for our extensive fleet, managing relationships with 8 vendors and 68 lease riders. A significant aspect of this role involves owning the lease lifecycle planning for multiple fleets (DDG, corn oil, MSC, and clean sugar), ensuring all decisions align with financial, operational, and maintenance goals. The manager will also be responsible for presenting leasing strategies and long-term optimization plans to senior leadership, incorporating market benchmarks, requalification cycles, and cost-benefit analyses. Furthermore, this role involves designing and delivering actionable insights on fleet utilization, idle car positioning, lease efficiency, and performance KPIs. The Transportation Manager will lead monthly departmental reporting and quarterly briefings for executive leadership, contributing to strategic planning at the executive and Board levels. This role also encompasses developing and executing realignment initiatives, such as asset divestment, subleasing, and repositioning, to enhance margins. A key responsibility is managing the railcar sublease program, from market development and pricing strategy to contract execution and performance tracking. The manager will also oversee external relationships with ethanol producers and industrial partners to optimize underutilized assets, aiming to generate significant annual sublease revenue. Accurate delivery tracking, invoicing, and reconciliation processes tied to subleased equipment are also under this role's purview. Finally, the Transportation Manager will lead the selection and implementation of new logistics platforms and audit tools to modernize maintenance tracking and billing accuracy, oversee regulatory compliance and requalification cycles for rail assets, and negotiate maintenance and repair terms for cost control. This role will also partner with internal audit and finance to implement AMTR freight recovery services and reduce overhead through digital integrations with Class I rail systems.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required
7–10+ years of progressive experience in rail logistics, commercial supply chain, or transportation operations
Critical thinking and decision-making ability
Strong problem-solving skills and ability to make swift, sound judgments
Demonstrated expertise in lease negotiations, fleet management, and vendor strategy at scale
Strong leadership presence with the ability to influence across functions
Advanced analytical and reporting capabilities
Deep knowledge of Class I rail networks, STB regulations, and rail compliance standards
Must have computer proficiency in MS Office (Excel/Word/PowerPoint)
Ability to prioritize multiple tasks based on changing business needs
Maintaining a thorough understanding of applicable regulatory requirements of FRA, TTB and state regulations
Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis and be able to maintain ongoing work authorization without employer sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, or Business preferred
Ethanol/energy sector experience preferred

Responsibilities

Serve as the sole leadership backup to the VP of Transportation, with authority to manage departmental operations and ensure business continuity across logistics functions
Act as Green Plains’ liaison to Eco-Energy’s ethanol scheduling team, offering strategic oversight, systems training, and resolution support for cross-functional execution gaps
Drive logistics alignment with commercial, legal, tax, accounting, and trade operations teams to support product sales, asset positioning, and long-range supply planning
Lead strategy, negotiation, and performance oversight for our fleet across 8 vendor relationships and 68 lease riders
Own all aspects of lease lifecycle planning for DDG, corn oil, MSC, and clean sugar fleets, ensuring decisions align with financial, operational, and maintenance goals
Present leasing strategies and long-term optimization plans to senior leadership, integrating market benchmarks, requalification cycles, and cost-benefit analysis
Design and deliver actionable insights on fleet utilization, idle car positioning, lease efficiency, and performance KPIs
Lead monthly reporting for departmental leadership and quarterly briefings for the SVP of Commercial Operations, contributing to executive and Board-level strategic planning
Develop and execute realignment initiatives, including asset divestment, subleasing, and repositioning to support margin enhancement
Own the railcar sublease program, from market development and pricing strategy to contract execution and performance tracking
Manage external relationships with ethanol producers and industrial partners to optimize underutilized assets, generating more than $3M in annual sublease revenue
Oversee accurate delivery tracking, invoicing, and reconciliation processes tied to subleased equipment
Lead the selection and implementation of new logistics platforms and audit tools to modernize maintenance tracking and billing accuracy
Oversee regulatory compliance and requalification cycles for rail assets; negotiate maintenance and repair terms to maximize cost control
Partner with internal audit and finance to implement AMTR freight recovery services and reduce overhead through digital integrations with Class I rail systems